The Genius Mage Was Reincarnated Into A Swordsman Family

Chapter 105: The Ominous Awakening

Klaus opened his eyes, but the world around him was little more than a blur, a muddled haze of colors and shapes. His eyelids felt heavy, as though weighed down by an unseen force. Blinking several times, he tried to clear his vision, but it only sharpened slightly, the fog still thick in his mind. There was an eerie stillness in the room, broken only by the distant sound of his own shallow breathing.

He was in his bed.

How did he get here?

A dull throb pounded at his temples, and his body ached in ways he couldn’t explain. The sensation was foreign, like he’d been thrown into his own skin without fully inhabiting it. Sitting up slowly, Klaus glanced toward the window. The faintest slivers of light began creeping over the horizon, signaling the approach of dawn. The sky was still dark, but the hint of sunlight on the edge of the world made everything feel more surreal, as if he’d woken at the edge of a dream.

"What... was I doing again?" he muttered to himself, his voice raspy. His mind was clouded, memories flickering just beyond his grasp. Every time he tried to think, it was like chasing shadows that slipped away before he could catch hold of them.

His eyes instinctively dropped to his hand.

The ring.

The cold metal of Greed’s ring was still on his finger, a familiar weight he hadn’t even realized he was holding. "Greed..." Klaus whispered, his heart suddenly racing. If anyone knew what had happened, it would be Greed. They had been through so much together. Surely, Greed would have the answers.

With a flicker of hope, Klaus closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, seeking the presence of the ancient being who had resided within him for so long now. He probed deeper into his consciousness, into the dark recesses where Greed’s voice usually lurked, sly and ever-watchful.

But there was nothing.

"I feel like death," he muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes. But this was no ordinary tiredness. His entire body felt drained, as if something had sapped his strength during the night.

He began to undress, pulling off his shirt with hurried hands, his breath shallow as he scanned his skin for any sign of the runes. He twisted his body, checking his arms, his torso, his back. Nothing. No marks, no traces of the dark symbols that had burned their way across his body the night before.

Relief washed over him like a wave. He exhaled, finally allowing himself a moment to breathe. The runes were gone—whatever nightmare he had endured, it seemed to have passed. He braced himself against the sink, letting the tension ease from his shoulders.

But then a whisper of intuition crept up from the back of his mind. A cold feeling, like fingers trailing down his spine. Slowly, almost against his will, he turned his hand over, palm up.

His heart sank. Experience tales at empire

There, etched into the flesh of his palm, was a single rune. Dark, intricate, and pulsing faintly, it sat like a brand, a permanent mark that could not be erased.

"Fuck..." The word slipped out of him, his voice trembling.

The rune stared back at him, alive in its stillness. It wasn’t gone. It had just moved. Shifted to the most dangerous place possible—his hand. His mind raced with questions, with fear. Why was it there? What did it mean? And why had Greed vanished at the same time?

Klaus clenched his fist, the rune disappearing beneath his tightened skin, but its presence still burned in the back of his mind. Whatever had happened to him during that blackout, it wasn’t over. The danger hadn’t passed.

If anything, it had only just begun.

And this time, he was alone.